The Great Hall of Ashen Keep was, to put it bluntly, just a larger stone room.
When Erlic entered, it was already filled with people.
On the left were over twenty guards in worn leather armour, led by a young man who looked seventy percent like Hob, wearing an impatient expression.
On the right were a dozen servants, led by the old servant Reine; they were all thin and sallow, keeping their heads down and not daring to speak.
In the middle were dozens of commoners, all tenants of Ashwood, sizing up their new lord with numb yet curious eyes.
It was the first time they had seen him like this since completing his training at House Tallhart.
Hob stood at the very front of the hall, hands behind his back, looking toward the world like the master of the place.
"Silence!"
Seeing Erlic enter, Hob barked, and the hall immediately fell quiet.
He nodded in satisfaction and then turned to Erlic.
"My Lord, everyone is here. If you have anything to say, please speak."
His posture was as if he were granting Erlic a chance to speak.
Everyone's gaze gathered on Erilc.
This young lord looked too youthful, with a thin frame and a pale face, lacking the robustness a Northern noble should have.
Erlic ignored Hob. He walked to the centre of the hall, his gaze sweeping over every person.
The guards' eyes darted away, not daring to look at him.
The servants were full of fear.
The commoners had only numbness in their eyes.
This was his territory, his people.
"I called you all here today for only one thing."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet hall.
"Retribution."
Single word made everyone freeze.
Hob's expression flickered, but he quickly squeezed out a smile.
"My Lord, what are you saying? What is there for us to reckon?"
"Of course there is."
Erlic pulled an old ledger from his robe.
"This is the ledger for Ashen Keep from last year.""
He flipped it open as he spoke.
"Steward Hob, I want to ask you-."
"The ledger states that last month, we purchased 100 bags of flour from White Harbor to supplement our winter stores. Why is it that this morning in the granary, I only saw fewer than 30 bags?"
Hob's heart skipped a beat.
"My Lord, you must have miscounted," he said, forcing himself to stay calm. "The remaining flour has already been distributed to the commoners and guards."
"Is that so?"
Erlic looked toward the commoners.
"Did you receive any flour last month?"
The commoners looked at each other, but no one spoke.
Erlic then looked at the Captain of the Guard, Little Hobert.
"And you? Was there fine flour from White Harbor in your rations?"
Little Hobert opened his mouth, looking at his uncle as if he will help him....But he did.
"My Lord! Are you questioning my loyalty?" Hob suddenly raised his voice, trying to use his presence to intimidate.
"I have served the Ashwood family for twenty years! I have worked hard if nothing else! You cannot suspect a loyal old servant just because of a minor accounting error!"
He began to play the victim; it was his old trick.
In the past, as soon as he said this, the original Host would immediately soften and apologise.
But today, he had calculated wrongly.
"Twenty years?"
Erlic gave a cold laugh.
"You have indeed served for twenty years. But in those twenty years, how much blood have you sucked from the Ashwood family?"
"You!"
Hob's face turned the colour of a pig's liver.
"An accounting error? You call this a minor error?"
Erlic slammed the ledger heavily onto the ground.
"Repairing the city walls last year cost 20 Gold Dragons, yet that collapsed section of the wall is still exactly the same! Six months ago, you applied for 15 Gold Dragons on the grounds of refitting the guards, yet the leather armour they wear is still from five years ago!"
With every sentence Erlic spoke, Hob's face grew a shade paler.
He had done these things without anyone knowing; how did this boy find out?
"Enough!"
Hob finally couldn't keep up the act anymore. He roared with a hideous expression:
"This is slander! You're making false accusations!"
He shot a look at his nephew.
Little Hobert immediately understood and, leading a few trusted guards, began to close in on Erlic.
"What do you intend to do? Commit regicide?"
Erlic stared at Little Hobert with ice-cold eyes.
Little Hobert felt his heart go numb under that gaze and actually stopped in his tracks.
"Seize him! He's gone mad!"
Hob screamed.
Just then, the Great Hall's door was suddenly pushed open.
The old servant Reine entered, accompanied by two unfamiliar guards.
In the hands of those two guards was a heavy wooden chest.
Thump!
The wooden chest was dropped onto the floor, and the lid was flipped open.
The chest was filled with gold coins and silver stags, their golden glint stinging everyone's eyes.
"Steward Hob," Reine's voice trembled with excitement.
"This was found under your bed. Didn't you say the castle was so poor we could hardly keep the pots boiling? Where did all this money come from?"
Caught red-handed.
The entire hall fell into a dead silence.
All the guards stopped in their tracks, looking at Hob in disbelief.
They worked hard and couldn't even get their full pay, yet this fat man had secretly hidden so much money.
Hob completely collapsed, his face ashen like death.
"Traitor... Reine, you damned old thing..." he muttered to himself.
"Drag him down toward the cell."
Erlic gave the order.
Two guards immediately stepped forward and hoisted up the limp Hob.
"No! My Lord! Mercy! I was wrong! I'll give you all the money!"
Hob finally felt fear and began to beg frantically for mercy.
But Erlic didn't even bother to give him another look.
"And you."
His gaze turned toward Little Hobert.
Little Hobert's legs went weak, and he knelt directly on the ground.
"My Lord, mercy! I knew nothing! My uncle forced me to do it!"
Erlic didn't speak, just quietly watched him.
Finally, he spoke:
As you have not yet committed an irreversible crime, I will spare your life. From this day forward, however, you are stripped of your post as Captain of the Guard and shall never again bear a sword.
He looked toward one of the unfamiliar guards who had entered with Reine.
It was a man in his thirties, tall and with a steady gaze.
Memory told Erlic that his name was Danos, one of the few veterans in the castle who hadn't colluded with Hob.
"Danos, from now on, you are the Captain of the Guard of Ashwood Keep."
Danos was stunned for a moment, then immediately knelt on one knee.
"I am willing to die for my Lord!"
There was a stir among the guards, but it soon calmed down.
They looked at Danos, then at Erlic, and ultimately all bowed their heads.
"Half of all the wealth Hob embezzled will be put into the treasury. The other half will be distributed among you all as the back pay and wages that were withheld in the past."
Erlic's voice rang out again.
The eyes of the guards and servants instantly lit up.
"The Lord is wise!"
Someone shouted first, and then cries of loyalty echoed throughout the Great Hall.
The purge ended just like that.
Erlic stood on the dais, looking at the crowd below who had become respectful once more.
He knew this was only the beginning.
[Novice Mission Completed.]
[Reward: Novice Gift Pack x1. Open now?]
"Open."
Erlic muttered in his heart.
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining:]
[Fortune points x 500]
[Fertile Egg from 21st century-x 20]
[All attribute +1]
A warm current surged through his entire body; Eric felt that his somewhat frail body seemed to have become a bit sturdier.
"But what should I do with 20 egg." Erlic questioned but looking at the pitiful amount of gold coins in the chest, Erlic smiled.
Money would come very soon. If i could hatch these egg's into chicken.